CNN legal analyst Elie Honig has publicly criticised New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over comments suggesting his administration could look into arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to visit New York. Honig described the idea as "utterly ridiculous", pointing out that a city mayor holds no legal authority to detain a foreign head of government, a power that would rest with federal or international bodies rather than local officials.

The row stems from remarks Mamdani made about exploring whether his administration could act against Netanyahu, who faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over the conduct of the war in Gaza. Honig's rebuttal, aired on CNN, focused on the legal impossibility of a mayoral office enforcing such an arrest, rather than the political merits of the underlying warrant. The story has been picked up by Fox News as part of wider coverage scrutinising Mamdani's public statements.